Ten artists and art scholars from more than 100 candidates from universities, painting institutes, and art academies will travel to countries on five continents in the coming weeks, for a three-month research project. They are participating in the 2012 Overseas Art Academic Research program, which was launched on July 1 in Beijing.

The participants will do research on a wide range of topics, such as art funding operations in the US, artistic creations by post-1990s artists in France, and contemporary art trends in Mexico.

"The aim of the program is to help China's art community update their knowledge about the latest development in arts and design worldwide," says Wu Changjiang, secretary-general of the Chinese Artists Association. The Chinese Artists Association initiated the educational program in 2009 with support from the Ministry of Finance.